The Horror In Haiti

The history of Haiti is more complicated in world history than Pat Robinson has indicated. It has less to do with voodoo and the devil than with real struggle, suffering, and poverty. James Dobbins, the special envoy to Haiti in the Clinton Administration wrote in the New York Times: "...the United States will give Baghdad 200 times more economic assistance than it will to Haiti, which is in much worse shape than Iraq even after the invasion." That fact will probably be true even after the earthquake. Ten Million people in Haiti today are cut off from basic supplies of food, water, medicine, or shelter. The earthquake buried Port-au-Prince, a city of three million people under rubble with huge numbers of deaths. For some who have voice and power in media, the dialogue should move from taking shots at Haiti to helping people out of a situation which in horrible.

BASHING TIGER WOOD'S RELIGION

On "Fox News Sunday" (Jan. 3, 2010) Brit Hume called on Tiger Woods to switch from Buddhism to Christianity to obtain "forgiveness and redemption." Hume said:

"Whether he can recover as a person depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

In suggesting that Christianity is better than Buddhism, Brit Hume was obviously not thinking about the effect Christianity has had on the lives of Christian examples like Senator Larry Craig, Gov. Mark Sanford, Senator Strom Thurman, and President Bill Clinton. Congressman Newt Gingrich, who served his dying wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital, outed Brit Hume's son. Hume's son committed suicide. Newt, of course enjoyed broad support from the Christian right.

"Could Hume get away with saying something like that about Jewish people or black people or the Muslim Faith?" ask Kyle Lovette on TheReformedBuddhist.com. Lovette believes that Hume may get a pass on this one because Buddhist are only 3% to 4% of the population in the USA.

Hume may be ignorant about Buddhist teaching. Here is a Buddhist prayer:

[I pray], "O Endowed Transcendent Destroyer Vajrasattva, I myself and others request that you cleanse wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings and purify every weakened and broken sacred word of honor." Having requested like this, from the HUM and the mantra-rosary in his heart shine out radiant lights, cleansing the wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings, who come presenting offerings that delight the Awakened Beings and their spiritual sons. Every excellence of their body, speech and mind collects in the form of light and dissolves into the mantra-rasary and the HUM. From there a white stream of nectar flows pouring from the place of union of the Lord and consort. It enters through the pour aperture at the crown of my head, filling my whole body with a stream of nectar of pristine awareness. I become puri-fied by the cleansing of all evils and hindrances from my three doors.

"Through my ignorance and delusions I have transgressed and weakened my pledges. O my spiritual master, protectt me and be my refuge. Lord who holds the adamantine scepter, the embodiment of great compassion, the chief of beings, I go to you for refuge."

In answer Vajrasattva replies, "O child of my family, your wrongs nd hindrances and every broken and weakened commitment are cleansed and puri-fied." Having spoken thus, he dissolves into me and my three doors become inseparable from the perfect body, speech, and mind of Vajrasattva.

Cakrasamvara Tantra

The Evangelical Lutheran Church In America Made the Right Decision: Ordaining Gays and Lesbians in Committed Relationships

In August 2009 the ELCA churchwide assembly adopted a social statement on human sexuality. Additionally, the assembly adopted proposals to permit non-celibate gays and lesbians,in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to become clergy, and to serve as ELCA associates in ministry,deaconesses and diaconal ministers. The assembly's votes followed eight years of careful debate about sexuality, complete with study guides for congregations and, in 2008, more than 110 hearings. Recognising that consensus will be elusive, the ELCA’s changes allow flexibility for congregations that disapprove. The hope is that the church will remain intact, despite its deep disagreements. I believe this was the right decision. It makes the ELCA, with 4.8 million members, the largest denomination in the U. S. to welcome gays into pulpits without restrictions. The new rule, which went into effect in November, allows individual congregations to decide whether or not they want to call a gay pastor --the so-called "local option."

Many in the ELCA are conscious that they are not only deciding an important matter for their constituency but are also contributing to a national debate on the status of same-sex couples. While the ELCAs decision is not perfect, it may encourage other religious groups to move forward on this issue.

In related matters, the U. S.-based Pew Forum on Religion in the Public life released a survey in March with results showing that 56 per cent of mainline Protestants in this country say homosexuality should be more acceptable.

Specifically, 70% of Episcopalians feel that way, as do 69% of those in the United Church of Christ, 56% of ELCA members, 52% of Presbyterians and 51% of those who attend United Methodist churches.

Fifty-eight per cent of Catholics also believe that homosexuality should be accepted, as do 48% of Orthodox believers.

Members of some other religious groups in the U. S. expressed similar viewpoints, with 79% of Jews also believing homosexuality should be more accepted, along with 82%of Buddhists and 48% of Hindus.

Of course, not all religious groups approve of homosexuality. Seventy four per cent of evangelical Protestants say that homosexuality is a way of life that should be discouraged, as do Mormons (76%), Jehovah's Witnesses (88%) and Muslims (73%).

These figures compare with 48% of the general U. S. population who consider homosexuality to be morally acceptable, according to a 2008 Gallup poll, while 55% believe homosexual relations should be legal.

This was a USA survey. Although it is commonly held that religion and homosexuality are in conflict, in the U. S., at least, there is more support for gays and lesbians among many religious people than in the general population.

Although evangelicals and Muslims disagree about many things, on this subject they seem to see eye-to-eye. According to the Pew Forum: "Despite their relatively liberal political orientation, Muslims by no means take liberal positions on all issues. On social issues, they are more similar to white evangelicals."

Lutheran WordALong Network: Disrespect For Security Guards

WordAlong Editor Betsy Carlson (August 21, 2009, http://www.wordalone.org/nr/isn't-it-ironic.shtml) seemed to relish the opportunity to slam the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America when an Ethiopian pastor, The Rev. Francis Stephanos, one-time vice president of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus was "kicked out of the Minneapolis Convention Center." Carlson and Stephanos show a careless disregard for the security officer who asked Rev. Stephanos for identification and credentials required for presence in the convention center. The security guard was performing his duty. Stephanos, now a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor, was not a delegate but had taken it upon himself to talk to various voting members, "the people with the yellow name tags" about "the word of the Bible," according to Carlson. Security guards do not get their authority or instructions from the ELCA. They are ultimately answerable to security firms contracted by the Minneapolis Convention Center. They are responsible for the security of persons attending meetings at the center, and they are, yes, on the lookout for persons who are not registered or who are not a part of the proceedings. Security officers are first responders, the eyes and ears of people assembled in public spaces across the nation. They are low paid workers who deserve the respect and thanks of persons who meet in gatherings such as the ELCA Assembly. Stephen Tyrone Johns, a six-year veteran security guard at the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was fatally shot by 86-year-old white supremacist James W. von Brunn several months ago when he too performed his duties as a security guard. The WordAlone Network invited uncredentialed people into the convention center to pray for the assembly, and then protested when the Rev. Stephanos was asked to leave. Security workers are on the move in public spaces, and they do "walk around" people. They too, serve and protect.

MICHAEL JACKSON AND THE SHAME OF CONGRESSMAN PETER KING

Congressman Peter King and Bill O'Reilly could not wait until Michael Jackson's family and his fans completed mourning and burial before they began to spew hot air attacks about Jackson. King calld Jackson a "pedophile" and a "pervert," something he (King) cannot prove and which has been knocked down in a court of law. O'Reilly picks up where King leaves off, with tasteless bottom feeder comments about Jackson's skin color, his children and his finances.

Representative King wants more coverage of persons in the military. I bet that just as 3,000 plus U.S. troops and their families welcolmed Jackson in March of 2007 at the Army base Camp Zama, Japan, that troops stationed at U.S. military bases globally felt the loss of Michael Jackson and watched his funeral on television.

Peter King claims that "there's nothing good about the guy." Bill O'Reilly, famous for incendiary statements went after Jackson's kids, spending habits - and skin care.

Although Jackson’s personal life is controversial his fans and friends stood by his side and spoke outwardly revealing a man who gave not only to persons in military service, but to young people in college. Shame on Peter King and O'Rielly. They are obviously out of step with Jackson and his worldwide fans.

GOV. MARK SANFORD - SAINT AND SINNER

It is not surprising to learn that Gov. Sanford is a sinner. Aren't we all! What is intriguing is how people in the USA, and especially in media, are so fixed on sexual infidelity. Sacred writings from a variety of religious traditions list all sorts of sins human beings can be tempted into. Politicians can lie practically every time they move their lips, and get no reaction from most people. Some sectors of the press employ truth squads who use accuracy monitoring, but these come off as entertainment. The mention of sex sets us off. Sex of course, is a topic that's easy to exploit. When the focus is on genitalia, what else is there to speak and write about? Most people are not even bothered by the fact that Sanford is a hypocrite, another sin. That he called for former President Clinton's impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky scandal gets scant coverage in some media. But as a society, and as religious people we obsess on sex. Americans ought to get used to the fact that the people who lead this country are both saints and sinners, and often on the same day. Gov. Sanford shares the same moral geography as all Americans. He is capable of great good on his best day, and can morally slip by the end of the same day. Sanford has confessed. The hope is, at last, he will use his remaining days as governor to fulfill the contract with the people of South Carolina that he holds.

Apologizing For Slavery

The United States Senate finally got around to offering African Americans an apology for hundreds of years of slavery, segregation and Jim Crow laws. The resolution sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws." The Iowa Democrat’s co-sponsor on the apology was Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kansas. The apology comes almost 150 years after the start of the Civil War. The senators inserted a disclaimer stating that "nothing in this resolution authorizes or supports any claim against the United State; or serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States." In other words reparations are not a part of the apology. A number of members of the Congressional Black Caucus objected to the disclaimer, noting, in the words of Rep. Will Lacy Clay, D-Mo., that an apology does not "...repair the damage..."

At the end of the civil war in 1865, Gen. William Sherman offered a reparations plan that included 40 acres and a mule for each ex-slave. Under Sherman's plan, land would be set aside in Georgia and South Carolina for the settlement of ex-slaves. Of course, this never happened.

President Barack Obama has stated his opposition to offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with Rep. Clay and certain other members of the Black Caucus and some other black groups and individuals. Obama believes that good schools, proper health care and jobs are "the best reparations..."

Those who support reparations as well as an apology face many obstacles. The scramble for American tax dollars is only one.